iFeel
by M.L. Shards
Summary: Spoilers for Things Not Said. Mack has a hard time dealing, Rose listens. Slight Rock, if you squint.


More conversation than anything else, I like how it turned out, hope you do too.

Contains MAJOR spoilers for "Things Not Said" do NOT read if you don't want Mack's secret revealed. As always, please review.

The title isn't a misspell, if you've seen the episode, you know what it's talking about.

* * *

Mack groaned and put his book down on the table, face down, marking his page. "Rose, if you don't get that thing away from me, I swear-" 

Pulling the small scanner away from the Red Ranger's head, Rose flushed at having been caught.

She'd promised Mack she wouldn't do any tests, but it was too tempting. He was a fully sentient automaton after all, but much more advanced than Alpha had been. She hadn't even known advancements like this in technology had been made.

"S-s-sorry, I couldn't help it…" She sputtered throwing the scanner behind her and onto the nearby pool table. Mack had been particularly irritable lately… understandably. It wasn't very often a person discovered their whole existence was a lie, but the way he kept pushing everyone away worried them all. "You're very… intriguing…"

"Thanks." Mack muttered darkly as he picked his book up again and stuck it in front of his face. "Why aren't you with the others?"

Rose shrugged. "Ronny decided to take Tyzonn to a concert downtown, Will tagged along. I think he likes Ronny…" She shifted and stepped backwards slightly. "Uh… Dax got a call from a director a few days ago; he's interesting in doing a documentary on the Power Rangers and their background. So he's gone for his interview."

Mack rolled his eyes. "So you decided to study me?"

"No!" Rose reacted shocked and confused by his bitter tone. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry… you've just been down and not feeling well… I wanted to know what was wrong-"

"So I don't malfunction again?" Mack snapped back, chucking his book across the room. He got to his feet and glared at her. "You want to know what's wrong? How about the fact that I can't "feel"? I'm a freakin' piece of metal and wires and I can't taste or smell or anything! It's all fake, I'm not real! I… I've been lied to my whole life, which actually hasn't been that long…"

Trailing off, Mack bent over and picked up a pillow, throwing it at the wall with his strength so it left a dent in the far wall. He knew Spencer would be upset, but he didn't care.

Rose stood there, dumbfounded. She'd never seen him like this before. "Mack I think-"

"Soon this is going to get out to the world!" He continued pacing in front of the couch. "The next time I malfunction or break, I may not be in the comfort of the Command Center! I have more in common with Alpha than I do with any of you! I have a mad scientist for a father who decided he wanted a kid and nooooo, adopting like a normal person wasn't "eccentric" for a billionaire. He had to build one and to add to that, he has no imagination and named me "Mack". I swear if word ever got to Apple about this, they'd sue…"

Snorting at the absurdity of the last remark Rose quickly tried to cover it up as the Red Ranger continued ranting. She let out a sigh as he went on and on. After a few minutes she smiled sadly. "Mack."

He didn't listen.

"Mack." She tried a bit more forcefully.

No response.

"MACK!"

The Ranger stopped mid step and looked over at the Pink Ranger. He didn't know she could yell that loud.

"You're angry."

Mack rolled his eyes. "Yes, I noticed that."

"Mack… that's an emotion, that's a feeling. Do you really think Mr. Hartford would have programmed you to feel? Wait… you can't program that actually…" Rose found herself revising as she thought it through. She'd been studying robotics at University and nothing of this sort had ever been achieved before. "You were affected by the bad luck spell. I mean, robots don't have luck."

Mack huffed and collapsed back onto the couch, folding his arms across his chest. His knowledge of robotics stemmed from the brief overview Rose had given him once, and old _Star Trek _reruns that he was programmed to remember watching as a kid. "So? I'm still made of metal. I can't believe I never noticed it earlier. I've cut myself numerous times in the past two years and never bled. I've never been a good sleeper, only Spencer could get me to sleep and when I think about it, he was probably switching me off."

Rose shook her head. "Mack, Alpha's made of metal, he still has friends and intelligence and he struggles to find his humanity. You've experienced humanity unlike any other automaton has ever-"

"But what about a girlfriend? A family? Can I even have one? I mean… I highly doubt adoption rules would allow that and can I…" there was an awkward pause as he figured out how to word it without causing Rose to turn a bright red and bolt from the room. "Uh… reproduce?"

Rose's reaction was a simple pink tinge in her cheeks. Mack's thoughts were erratic, but it did explain why he was so upset. It was more than anger of the past; it was fear of the future. "You are loved, but you want to love and to be loved in a more romantic sense?"

Mack tangled his fingers into his curly hair and pulled angrily. "I don't know! I want to… but I can't… and I'm not real, but- but all these people know me and look up to me as a ranger. This also leads me to ask how the hell the media seemed to ignore bachelor Andrew Hartford suddenly had a teenaged son when he didn't even have a girlfriend or adoption records. I mean if anyone ever really… oh god, what if they stick me in a lab or disassemble me or something?"

Rose let out a sigh and took a seat beside the confused man, wrapping her arms around him in an awkward hug since he'd placed his feet up on the couch in a crouched position. "We won't let them do that."

"But what if I get another virus? Or what if I'm a threat or something? What if Flurrious or someone reprograms me?"

Rose planted a small kiss on the Red Ranger's cheek. "We won't let that happen. I promise, if all else fails and the government freaks out, I've been doing some research, we can send you to live with the Space Rangers for a while. I can study you too, with your permission this time. I can upgrade your virus protection, and no one outside of this house has to know unless you want them to. We won't tell."

Mack swallowed as he began wiping his eyes. It was more of a reaction that anything else, he didn't actually have any tears, if he did; he'd be scared of short circuiting. His voice cracked as he issued a small sound. "Thank you, it's nice to have… friends."

Rose weakly smiled back, "Yeah, it's a…" she grinned as she thought of the perfect words. "good thing."


End file.
